Abandoned
by Freakishlylovable
Summary: Emily's sister comes to town and Emily is forced to make a life altering decison. Please read and review.
1. She Left

_Hey. I've had this sitting on my computer for months and months, but for some reason I've never posted it. I can sometimes be the Queen of Procrastination. Anyway, back on topic, I hope you like my latest Standoff story! Please review!_

A teenage girl with reddish, brown hair was walking down the hallway to the CNU part of the building. She was determined to find whom she was looking for, but was completely lost. During her search she accidentally bumped into a woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry.", the teenager said.

"It's okay. You look lost. Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yeah. I'm looking for Emily Lehman" the teen said warily.

"Oh, I work with her. Come with me, I'll get her for you" the woman said.

"Thanks"

"No problem. By the way, I'm Lia" Lia said.

"I'm Hannah. Emily's sister" Hannah said quietly.

"Sister? I didn't know that she had a sister" Lia said.

"Yeah. It's pretty complicated" Hannah said hinting to Lia that she didn't want to talk about the subject anymore.

* * *

Emily was sitting in the bullpen that she and Matt share. Right now Matt was in the Kill House with Frank and Duff. Usually Emily would be paying attention to Matt, but since he was gone, she had to focus on her work. Incredibly boring paperwork. She was reading over some pointless fine print when Lia interrupted her. 

"Hey Lia" Emily said glad for a distraction from her work.

"Hey. I've got a visitor for you" Lia said moving aside to show Hannah. Emily was shocked. She didn't know what to say or what to do. Hannah was a part of her past she thought she had buried. Buried deep down. Apparently pasts can come back to haunt you.

"Hannah" Emily said trying, but failing to sound happy.

"Hey Emily" Hannah said and then looked at Lia. Lia took the hint and realized that she wasn't welcome in this conversation.

"You know what, I've got work to do. So, I'll just leave you two alone." Lia said walking away. Once Lia was gone, Emily stood up and grabbed Hannah's arm.

"Can we talk somewhere a little more private?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. That would help" Hannah said in a soft voice. Emily noticed that Hannah looked scared and loosened the grip on Hannah's arm a little, and moved her hand up to a pat on her shoulder.

"Why don't I take you out for lunch. I know about this really cool café" Emily said trying to ease her little sister's worries.

"I'd like that" Hannah said a little more relaxed.

"Just let me ask my boss for the afternoon off. Stay here" Emily said walking towards Cheryl's office. What did Hannah want? Why did she come back? Did something happen? Is she okay? Emily ran all these questions through her head as she knocked on the door to Cheryl's office.

* * *

"Hello Emily" Cheryl said looking up from paperwork. 

"Hey Cheryl. Listen, can I have the rest of the day off?" Emily asked.

"Oh, um, can I ask why?"

"My younger sister just showed up in town unexpectedly." Emily said trying to make the arrival of her sister sound casual.

"I didn't know you had a sister" Cheryl said looking taken aback.

"Yeah, well it's complicated. I think we need to talk about family stuff" Emily trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, well that does sound important. So, you've got today off. Sort things out" Cheryl said with a concerned look on her face.

"Thanks. And not to make your list of favors to me any longer, but can you tell Matt? He's in the Kill House and this is something I gotta deal with now." Emily said sounding a little frantic.

"Sure" Cheryl said.

"And, could you leave out the part about my sister?" Emily asked.

"Do you want me to tell him family business?" Cheryl asked.

"Yes. Actually no. He might ask what and this is hard to explain" Emily said quickly glancing out the window to see Hannah standing near her desk, looking troubled.

"Emily, I don't want to meddle, but is everything okay?" Cheryl asked concerned.

"Like I said. It's complicated. I just need a day to figure it out without everyone in my face asking my questions that I don't know the answer to" Emily said looking down at the floor instead of at Cheryl.

"I don't know what's going on, but I think you should tell Matt" Cheryl finally said after a long silence.

"Um, why?"

"He cares about you. And you can trust him, no matter what it is. So, tell him. It might ease your worries" Cheryl said in a less buisness and more friend like tone. Emily just continued to stare at the floor. She had a look on her face much like her sister's.

"I'll tell him that you forgot about a meeting with the DA, you'll be out for the rest of the day, and you'll call him later" Cheryl said ruefully, she hated lying.

"Thank you Cheryl" Emily said thankfully and finally looked up at her.

"No problem" Cheryl said before Emily left her office. Cheryl knew that something was troubling Emily, but she didn't want to push it. Now she had to lie to Matt for Emily. What was it that she was hiding? Cheryl could only hope that Emily would talk to Matt about it. Matt would help her. Cheryl was sure of it.

* * *

Emily and Hannah walked into the café that Emily told her sister about. It had a few tables and chairs, it was cozy. It seemed like a relaxing environment to calm the sisters nerves. 

"Hi, what can I get you today?" the young lady behind the counter asked.

"I'll have a coffee" Emily said and then looked at Hannah for her order.

"Me too" Hannah said. Emily was surprised that Hannah had ordered coffee. She still saw her as the little girl with pigtails. But she really has grown up. The lady gave them their order and the girls took a seat. They sat in an uncomfortable silence. Emily knew she had to say something.

"So, coffee" Emily said. It was lame, but it was all she could come up with.

"You're surprised?" Hannah asked.

"Um, yeah, no. It's just, wow. You've grown up. Coffee" Emily studdered out.

"I'm fifteen. I thrive on caffeine. And it's better then that Red Bull junk" Hannah said taking a sip.

"Very true" was all Emily managed to get out. She was a crises negotiator, she should know what to say.

"I'm surprised you recognized me" Hannah finally said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We haven't seen each other in so long. To tell you the truth I was kinda worried you wouldn't know who I was" Hannah confessed.

"You look different, but I could tell" Emily said.

"How?" Hannah asked wanting to keep a conversation going. Even if it was this conversation, it was better then sitting in silence.

"You look like I did. Minus the bad hair" Emily said. Hannah laughed.

"So, don't take this the wrong way. But, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just, we haven't seen each other in five years. Is everything alright?" Emily asked worried.

"Do you want the whole story or the cliff notes?" Hannah asked putting down her coffee and stretching back in her chair.

"What ever you want" Emily said.

"Okay. She left" was all that Hannah said. But it was enough for Emily to take a sharp intake of breath. She left, those words hit Emily hard.

* * *

Matt, Frank, and Duff walked back into the CNU headquarters. Frank and Duff usually wouldn't be there, Cheryl she kept pestering the two on getting their paperwork done. They figured they better do it before she comes through on her threat to "tie you to chairs if that's what it takes it get it done", they did not need an angry Cheryl. 

"Do you think Cheryl would notice if we pretended to do the paperwork?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, that will give us a few more days!" Duff said excitedly.

"Unless you want to get tied to your chairs, I'd say no" Matt said.

"And I am looking forward to doing that" Cheryl said walking in on their conversation.

"Oh, Cheryl. We were just going to get to work on that paperwork. Isn't that right Duff?" Frank asked looking over at Duff.

"Yes we were" Duff said.

"Of course you were" Cheryl said sarcastically.

"We'll get to work on it now" Duff said.

"That would be a good idea. Matt you got paperwork too" Cheryl said pointing to his desk.

"Emily will take care of that" Matt said looking over to his desk and noticing that Emily wasn't there.

"Where is Emily?" Matt asked.

"She had some stuff to take care of" Cheryl said trying to ease around the subject.

"What kind of stuff?" Matt asked surprised he didn't know of her plans. Cheryl knew that she had to lie to Matt. She told Emily she would. And she is not going to double back on her word.

"She remembered that she had a DA meeting. She'll be there all day. But she'll call you later" Cheryl lied.

"An all day meeting" Matt said not buying the story. Frank and Duff stood watching. Both very amused. They wanted to know where Emily was.

"That's right" Cheryl said racking her brain for an excuse to leave.

"Then why are you using your lying voice?" Matt asked.

"Lying voice?" Cheryl said in fake surprise at the accusation. She had been partnered with Matt for too long.

"Yeah. Whenever you lie, you get a tone in your voice. So, where is Emily?" Matt asked. Frank and Duff didn't even try to hide there grins.

"She had some things to take care of." Cheryl said back to her original excuse.

"Cheryl!" Matt said annoyed.

"Matt, call her later and ask her yourself. I can't tell you" Cheryl said. At this point Lia walked up.

"Hey guys" Lia said. Frank, Duff, and Cheryl said their customary hellos. Matt however didn't.

"What's Emily doing?" he asked.

"What?" Lia asked looking confused.

"Where is she?" Matt asked. Cheryl nudged Lia and gave her a look that meant don't say anything.

"I'm not sure" Lia said.

"So, no one's gonna tell me?" Matt asked.

"Looks that way Man" Frank said in a not so helpful voice.

* * *

"She left?" Emily half asked, half said, for the fifth time. 

"Yeah. A few days ago" Hannah said looking down. Emily just sat there frozen, she left. Those words were echoing in her head over and over again. How could she do that to Hannah?

"She left a note though. She told me she was leaving" Hannah said trying to look at the bright side of the situation.

"That is hardly the mother of the year award" Emily said.

"Mom is Mom. Running away, it's what she does. I've accepted it" Hannah said.

"Abandoning you, is not something you should accept. You should be pissed at her" Emily said.

"Who said I wasn't? At first I was angry. And then it sunk in that she had abandoned me and wasn't coming back, so I got sad. And now, I'm here. I thought you needed to know" Hannah said.

"I'm glad you came. What's gonna happen now?" Emily asked knowing all to well what was going to happen. She just needed to hear it.

"Mom abandoned me. Dad died. So that leaves foster care" Hannah said. Emily knew what could happen in foster care. She just couldn't let that happen to her baby sister.

"There is another way" Emily said.

"There is?" Hannah asked hopefully.

"You know what it is. That's why you came here. The only other option is for me to become your guardian" Emily said with a scared look on her face. Hannah saw the look and felt guilty. If Emily took her in, it would be like giving up a part of her life. How can she do that to her sister?

"Em, it's okay. I can deal with the foster care system. Okay, you have your own life. I get it. There's a reason you don't visit. You've moved on. I don't need to make your life any harder. I shouldn't have come" Hannah said patting Emily's hand.

"Do you know why I left?" Emily asked knowing that Hannah didn't know.

"What?"

"Why I left home and stopped visiting. Do you know why?" Emily asked.

"No. I don't" Hannah finally said.

"It was because Dad was gone and Mom became a drunk. Mom did some horrible things when she went on her drinking binges. And I hated that she was my mother. I hated that this horrible and scary person was my flesh and blood. So, I ran. I got away. So I didn't have to deal with her. And in the process, I abandoned you. I left you to fend for yourself. And I'm sorry. That's why I never came back. I felt too guilty about what I did to you" Emily said fighting to hold back the tears. She was in a public place, she couldn't cry about it here.

"But, Mom did that, not you" Hannah said.

"Maybe. But I didn't make it any easier. Hannah, lets talk about you living with me" Emily said. Emily couldn't believe her words. Did she just agree to take in a fifteen year old. A fifteen year old that she hardy knew anymore. What about her job? What about her life? What about Matt? All these questions were reeling in her head. But she saw the happy look on Hannah's face and the questions and fears went away for a little while. She was making up for what she did to Hannah.


	2. Abandon

_Here is another part to the story. Enjoy!!!!!_

"So, you'll be okay here until I'm finished with work?" Emily asked Hannah. Hannah was sitting on the couch in Emily's apartment. It was lucky that Emily had an apartment with two bedrooms, so her sister could move right in.

"I'm fifteen, I can handle myself alone. We can catch up later" Hannah said flipping through tv channels.

"You're sure?" Emily asked, still not convinced. She had barely showed Hannah the apartment. Could she trust a fifteen year old to stay home alone in a new place, and not get into any trouble?

"I'll be fine. Would you stop worrying and get to work. We don't need you to get fired. Then we'd have a problem"

"Okay then. You know where the food is. And you got my cell phone number. Call me if you need me" Emily said putting on her jacket and grabbing her keys. She left Hannah sitting on the couch, watching tv.

* * *

Emily walked back into her office, to see Matt, Frank, and Duff all working on paperwork. That was a sight she had never thought she would see. She knew that she had to tell Matt about the Hannah situation. But how would he react? This is a huge change. Will he stick around and deal with it? Or will it be too much? He doesn't even know the story about Emily's family problems. That will difficult to explain. And if he does stay, how will he deal with a fifteen year old running around her apartment? It's not like Emily could go to Matt's place and leave Hannah alone. All these scenarios and many more were playing in her head, but they were stopped by Cheryl's voice.

"Hello Emily. You're back sooner than I expected. Have you finished all your family stuff?" Cheryl asked. Things are only just beginning, Emily thought. Apparently that showed on her face, because Cheryl noticed.

"Lets talk in my office" Cheryl said leading the way. Emily walked behind her, trying her best to not be seen by Matt. She couldn't explain this to him, yet.

"So, I take it things have not been worked out" Cheryl said sitting down in a chair next to Emily.

"Not exactly" Emily said solemnly. She just changed her entire life without thinking. Things were no where near being worked out.

"Like I said, I don't want to meddle. But you seemed a little, what's the right word? Frazzled" Cheryl said.

"It's stuff with my sister" Emily said.

"Can I get a little more background information then stuff with your sister?" Cheryl asked. Emily knew that she needed to tell Matt that her sister would be living with her. So, maybe doing a test run on Cheryl's reaction wouldn't be so bad. Besides, she knows Matt, possibly better then Emily.

"Um, I don't know where to start" Emily said.

"Start anywhere"

Emily froze up. She had never really told anyone this out loud before, led alone her boss. The hardest part was saying it. Before Emily could say anything Lia walked in.

"Oh, sorry" Lia said moving to leave.

"Lia wait! I need a few opinions on this" Emily said motioning Lia to come back into the room. It might be less intimidating with one of her best friends in the room. Emily prepared herself to tell Lia and Cheryl everything.

* * *

Emily had just told Lia and Cheryl the whole story. And now they were all sitting in silence. The two women hadn't said a word since Emily had finished her story.

"Well?" Emily asked nervously.

"I don't know what to say" Lia said looking down. The look on Lia's face was what Emily was afraid of. The shock, the speechlessness. This was not what she had signed up for.

"You have to tell Matt" Cheryl finally said.

"You really think that he can deal with all of this?" Emily asked.

"I told you before, you can trust him" Cheryl said.

"That was before you knew all of this" Emily said getting up and pacing.

"He cares about you" Cheryl said.

"Enough to stick around?" Emily asked. Cheryl didn't say anything. Emily knew that Cheryl had no clue if Matt would stay.

"You'll never know until you try" Lia said.

"Yeah. Take the rest of the day off and talk to him" Cheryl said.

"I don't even know what to say" Emily confessed.

"Say what you said to us" Lia said.

"Yeah, go for a walk and tell him. And then maybe he can go back to your apartment and meet your sister" Cheryl said.

"If he stays" Emily said.

"Emily, who comes first. Matt or your sister?" Cheryl asked.

"I don't know. I really care about Matt. And I barely know my sister, but she is my sister. So, my sister" Emily said.

"Then if Matt can't see that, maybe he's not worth it" Cheryl said. Emily hoped that Matt would understand that her loyalty has to lie with her sister. But would he?

* * *

Emily and Matt were walking around the city, in a silence. Matt didn't know what was going on with Emily, she just said that she needed to take a walk. And Cheryl let them off early. Which she never does. Something is up.

"Hey Em?"

"Yeah?" Emily asked looking down at the sidewalk.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked playing dumb.

"Well, you had an all day "DA meeting", Cheryl let us off of work early, and you haven't said a word since we left the office" Matt explained. Emily just stayed silent.

"Em, what's wrong?" Matt asked. Emily finally looked up at him. His eyes were so caring, how could he not understand? She needed to tell him. It was now or never, before she loses her nerve.

"I think I made a huge mistake" Emily said already choking on her words.

"Em, what are you talking about?" Matt asked while he stopped walking and turned Emily towards him. She said nothing.

"Emily. Come on. You can tell me" he said stroking her hair.

"It's a long and confusing story" Emily said.

"We don't have work. I've got the time" Matt said holding her hand, which was shaking a little.

"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you" Emily said taking a deep breath. Matt started getting worried about what she was going to say. What did she do?

"I am the new guardian of my little sister" Emily quickly said.

"What?" Matt asked, thinking that he didn't hear correctly. Emily never mentioned a sister.

"I'm the new guardian of my sister. Not officially yet. There's a lot of paperwork to be done. But then I will be" Emily trying to avoid eye contact with Matt again.

"Um, I didn't know you had a sister" Matt said. What he really wanted to know was, why on earth would she take in her sister? Why couldn't her parents do that. Then he remembered that she never mentioned her parents.

"Yeah, a fifteen year old sister. We don't talk. Or we didn't talk. But she showed up today, she needed a place to stay, and somehow I ended up agreeing to being her guardian" Emily said still avoiding eye contact. Matt was very confused. Had she even thought about what he thought about this? He didn't want to say that. She looked fragile enough, he didn't need to make it any worse. So, he decided to go gentle with her.

"Why does she need to move in with you?" Matt tried to ask casually, it was a bad attempt.

"My parents aren't around to take her in" Emily said.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"I'll give you the short version. My dad died when Hannah, my sister, was little. And my mom is really screwed up, so she abandoned Hannah. I'm her only family, so I said I'd take her in" Emily said in a calm voice.

"What happened with your mom?" Matt asked. He didn't want to make Emily upset, but whatever her mother did, it just changed Emily's life forever.

"After my dad died, she started drinking, a lot. And after that, she stayed out at bars all night. And even brought strangers home. I got fed up and left the first chance I could. That left Hannah with my mom. I guess she just got over the maternal thing and left" Emily said now on the verge of tears. Matt knew there was more, something that she wasn't telling him.

"Emily, what else is there?" he asked gently.

"I abandoned her" Emily said now with tears streaming down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked.

"I left Hannah to deal with Mom on her own. I abandoned her. And now, because I'm trying to make it up to Hannah, you're gonna abandon me" Emily barely got out. She was crying, taking sharp breaths, and trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes. Matt could not believe what he just heard. She thinks that he'll leave her. Matt pulled Emily into a tight hug.

"I'm not abandoning you. Em, I'm right here. I'm staying here" Matt said rubbing her back.

"No, Matt. It's too much" Emily said choking on tears.

"You're worth it. It'll all be okay. I'll help you through it" Matt said.

"Matt, I can't ask you to go through this" Emily said in between tears.

"Em, I'd to anything for you. I love you" Matt said stroking her hair. He had never told her that. But now it was what she needed to here, and it was true. He did love her. And he would do anything for her.

"I love you too" she whispered kissing him. Emily couldn't believe that Matt wasn't going to leave her. That Matt would deal with her sister, just to be with her. Then she was back on the topic of her sister. What if she couldn't take care of her sister? What if her life will just go into a downward spiral? Matt sensed her worries.

"It'll all work out" he said kissing her forehead. Emily just collapsed into his arms. The truth was, Matt didn't know if things were going to work out. But he knew that he would be there to see Emily through it. He would never abandon her.

_This is really cheesy, but it's what I wrote. I have a few more chapters coming later. Review!!!!!!!!!_


	3. Good Morning

_Thanks for the reviews. As I promised, here is another part._

The sun poured in through Emily's window. She squinted and pulled the covers over her eyes. She finally became adjusted to the light and turned over to see Matt laying sound asleep next to her. She couldn't help but smile, he was so handsome. And he was the perfect man. She loves him and he loves her. She knows that he will stick around. And he has stuck around. Emily's fifteen year old sister, Hannah, moved in with her, and Matt stayed around and supported her. He puts up with a teenager running around the house. He and Hannah have grown close too. Matt's protective older brother instinct has kicked in. And he is a real help with taking care of Hannah now that Emily is officially her guardian. Emily stared at Matt and thought of all the amazing things that he has done for her. Matt seemed to notice that he was being watched and woke up.

"Good morning" he said leaning in for a kiss. The kiss sent shivers up Emily's spine, like all kisses from Matt.

"Good morning" Emily said after they pulled away.

"You know what would make it even better?" Matt said.

"Good morning sex" Emily said hopping on top of Matt.

"You read my mind" he said giving her a passionate kiss. At this moment Hannah chose to walk in.

"Oh God!" Hannah yelled as she diverted her eyes. Matt and Emily quickly covered themselves.

"Good morning Hannah" Emily said awkwardly.

"Apparently a very good one for you guys. I was gonna ask to borrow a shirt, but that can wait. I'll just go" Hannah said quickly dashing out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

"Well, now that she's gone" Matt said getting back to the position they were in and kissing her again. But Emily broke off the kiss.

"What?" Matt asked.

"I can't have sex with Hannah in the other room" Emily said getting out of bed and searching for a towel to take a shower.

"We've had sex with her in the other room before" Matt said.

"Yeah, well now she knows what we're doing"

"I'm pretty sure that she knew the other times"

"Matt!"

"I'm just saying"

"I'm gonna take a shower" Emily said finally finding a towel.

"Hannah living here is now having severe ramifications on me. Here's an idea. Why don't you spend the night at my place" Matt said.

"And leave Hannah here all alone. I don't know"

"She's here alone when we're at work. She can handle herself. And she'll probably invite that Mandy girl she's friends with over" Matt said.

"I'll ask her" Emily said reluctantly before heading into the bathroom.

* * *

"Yes, yes, yes, go. I'll be fine home alone" Hannah said jumping up and down excitedly.

"You're sure?" Emily asked warily.

"Yes, absolutely. Go to Matt's. Have fun. I'll be fine" Hannah said still jumping up and down.

"Okay then" Emily said half relieved, half worried.

"I get the place to myself! I get the place to myself!" Hannah said in a singsong voice while doing a dance. She'll be fine, Emily thought to herself.

* * *

Matt was stroking Emily's bare shoulder in his bed, at his apartment. He noticed Emily was looking around the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked

"Just, absorbing your place. I practically forgot what it looked like" Emily said.

"It's been a while since you've been here. Since Hannah moved in" Matt said now proceeding to kiss her neck. Emily just wiggled her way out of Matt's arms.

"What now?" he asked trying very hard to stifle his annoyance.

"I don't know. I just feel weird leaving Hannah home alone" Emily said. Matt moaned irascibly.

"I'm just saying, maybe I should call her" Emily said.

"Will you have sex with me if you call her?" Matt asked.

"Yes" Emily said distractedly looking for her phone.

"Call away" Matt said as he handed her the phone.

Emily called and let the phone ring a few times. Nothing. She then left Hannah a message.

"She's not picking up" Emily said as she hung up the phone.

"It's late, she could be asleep" Matt said.

"Yeah. Or..." Emily said, an idea now dawning on her.

"She might not be at the house" she said sitting up suddenly.

"You told her to stay inside. Do you really think she'd risk it?" Matt asked.

"Are you telling me when you were a teenager and had no adult supervision, you didn't go out?" Emily asked.

"Fine. I did. But Hannah's not me"

"She's a teenager. She's reckless. And stupid" Emily said now biting her nails worriedly.

"Come on. She's still in a new city. She'll probably be at home. I mean the worst she could do is throw a party" said Matt, who didn't realize what he just said,

"Party!" Emily said as she got up and gathered her clothes.

"I'm sure she's not having a party" Matt said, failing to get Emily to relax and come back to bed.

"She could be having a party. She could be trashing my apartment with a bunch of football jocks. And they'd bring beer, get her drunk, and trick her into sleeping with them. Then the cops would show up and..."

"Slow down, slow down, now you're being paranoid" Matt said now getting up from bed.

"How about this. We go to your place check on her. She'll be sound asleep. And we can finish up tonight in your room. Then come morning you will realize you can trust her and come back to my place. Okay?" Matt said trying to reason.

"Okay. Oh, and Matt. Thanks for putting up with me" Emily said. Matt returned that comment by giving her a kiss. But it still didn't stop Emily from going back to the apartment to check on Hannah.

* * *

Emily and Matt walked to her apartment door and tried the key, only to find that the door was already unlocked.

"She left the door unlocked, in the city. If that doesn't scream reckless I don't know what does" Emily said.

"Just go in a check on her already" Matt said clearly irritated.

Emily open the door and saw that the lights were off.

"See, she's asleep" Matt whispered. Emily sighed, admitting defeat and relieved, then turned on the lights. But, what she saw was, Hannah, making out on the couch with a stranger who has his hand up her shirt.

_I read a spoiler for Standoff saying that we would meet Emily's sister in one of the episodes. I read a little but know that what happens with her sister is nothing like my story (I seriously doubt someone would move in with her, other then Matt), so I'll finish this fanfic before the episode airs, because it will start to annoy me if it's innaccurate, an annoying habit of mine. Review!!!!!!!!_


	4. Skullz

_Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I know I said I would get this done before Friday, but I probably won't. But I'll keep writing it anyway. Please review!!!!_

"Hannah! What the hell is going on here?" Emily asked angrily. Hannah and the stranger immediately pulled away. Emily got a good look at the guy.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me" Matt said looking at Hannah's date. The guy had spiked hair, actually, green spiked hair. Also he had piercings all over him. And if that wasn't enough, many tattoos, one of a naked woman. Yeah, Matt's reaction hit the nail right on the head.

"Emily, hey. You're back. Already?" Hannah said getting up and biting her lip, appearing not exactly sure what to do. Emily didn't know what to do either.

"Yeah, I'm back. I wanted to check up on you. And I'm glad I did!" Emily said now starting to yell.

"Before you yell, I can explain. Really, I have a very logical explanation for this" Hannah quickly said.

"Really? Oh, I'm looking forward to this" Matt said, a little amused. The look Emily shot him sucked that feeling out of him.

"How are you gonna explain having a guy over when you have the apartment to yourself?" Emily said, kindly leaving out that out of all the guys that Hannah could have brought over, she had to chose the rebel, rockstar wannabe looking freak.

"Well, I did have a guy over I'll admit to that," Hannah started "But he's just a friend"

"A friend with his tongue down your throat and his hand up your shirt. Man, did I do the wrong things with my friends" Matt commented.

"Yeah, why were you more than friendly with this "friend" of yours?" Emily asked.

"Good question" Hannah said trying desperately to figure out how to get out of this.

"We're waiting" Matt said.

"Okay, well, we were, um, watching a movie. Yeah, we were watching a movie, and eating popcorn" Hannah started.

"Skip the popcorn and get to the explanation that if said right could get you out of a lot of trouble" Emily said.

"No, no, no, the popcorn is very important. See, I was eating popcorn, and I started to choke. So, you know, Skullz had to give me mouth to mouth" Hannah explained.

"Skullz" Matt and Emily said in unison.

"With a z" the guy named Skullz replied.

"Okay, so how do you explain the hand up your shirt?" Matt asked, while his big brother instinct was kicking in and he was trying to stifle the urge to hurt Skullz, bad.

"Well, he had to give me chest compressions, but instead, it was back compressions. So, really he was saving my life and you should be thanking him"

"I didn't save your life, we were making out" Skullz said.

"Not the time" Hannah said in the quiet voice.

"How stupid do you think we are?" Emily asked.

"But it's the truth!" Hannah lied.

"I can't believe that you would lie to me! Hannah you are in more trouble than you can possibly imagine. It's one thing for my fifteen year old sister to act like an idiot and bring a strange guy over to an empty apartment. But then you are an even bigger idiot for leaving the door unlocked, getting yourself caught, and then saying he gave you back compressions to save your life!" Emily yelled, looking angrier than Matt or Hannah has ever seen her.

"Okay, Em, why don't I bring Skullz home and you can have a talk with Hannah" Matt said grabbing his keys.

"It's okay Dude. I've got a motorcycle. I can get home myself" Skullz said.

"Skullz, I'm an FBI Agent, did you know that?" Matt asked.

"No" Skullz said all the sudden looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. So, you have a few choices. Number one, I can drive you home, we can have a talk, bond a little, and I doubt we'd have a problem. Then we have option number two, you don't come with me, and we would have a problem, because I'm pretty sure I can get you arrested for something. Finally there's option three, I pull my gun out and I can have myself a party, and that would be a big problem" Matt explained to Skullz who looked like he was about to wet his pants.

"Okay, H, I'm gonna let this guy give me a ride home. See ya later babe" Skullz said to Hannah, leaning in to kiss her.

"Unless you like option three I wouldn't do that if I were you" Matt said.

"Okay, bye" Skullz said leaving with Matt. And that left Emily alone to deal with Hannah.

_Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Please review!!!!!!_


	5. I Didn't Do Anything Wrong

_Here's another part. I know it's really short, but I don't have the energy to write a longer one right now. I'm kinda sick, it's a chronic disease thing, sometimes I'm okay, sometimes it's really hard. So I'm writing to distract myself, but I can't do it for long periods of time, so long story short, this is shorter than I intended it to be._

Hannah was sitting on the living room couch, looking extremely nervous, while Emily was pacing up and down the room.

"Hannah," Emily finally said, "why did you lie to me?" Emily figured that she could yell at Hannah, she really, really could, but would that get anywhere? She's a teenager, she wouldn't listen. She'd get a lot more cooperation is she came out as the good guy in all of this.

"I though you would be mad" Hannah solemnly said.

"I am. You lied. I mean, I'm pretty pissed about you having Skullz over, which we'll get to later. But I'm more angry that you had to tell that ridiculous story after you got caught" Emily said sitting down next to Hannah. The truth was, the story was amusing, but she was pissed at Hannah for having a guy over, but she should clear the air with this first.

"I knew I got caught and I panicked. I don't have the skills to talk anyone down in a heated situation, and you and Matt looked like you were going to blow a fuse, so I'd call that a heated situation. Look, I'm sorry Em. I won't lie again" Hannah said guiltily.

"You better not. Now why did you have that guy over?" Emily asked.

"Because I really, really like him and I knew you wouldn't approve. And Matt wouldn't approve, both you and Matt. But mostly Matt" Hannah explained.

"Yeah, well Matt loves you kid, and I don't think that Skullz is up to par. But back on topic, you never, under any circumstances bring a guy back to an empty apartment! Even if you really like him!" Emily said some of the anger starting to boil over.

"In my defense, we were only gonna make out, nothing more" Hannah started.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Emily said cutting her off.

"It's true. I'm not the slut of the world. And I really didn't do anything wrong" Hannah said.

"No, you really did!" Emily responded.

"I'm sorry, but did you ever tell me not to have any guys over?" Hannah asked.

"Of course I did" Emily said.

"No you didn't. You've never given me that rule. When we left, you said don't burn the place down. There was nothing in there about not having anyone over" Hannah explained. Emily froze, she realized she didn't explicitly state no boys over.

"No response to that Miss Crisis Negotiator?" Hannah asked.

"Hannah, you are a good kid. I thought you knew that. I didn't think I needed to tell my fifteen year old sister not to bring strange men into the apartment. Why on earth would you think that was okay?" Emily said, trying to cover her tracks.

"Well, for one, I thought you trusted me. And you have Matt over all the time" Hannah said.

"What! I'm a grown woman, and I'm in a committed relationship with Matt. Not some one night stand with a stoner from high school!" Emily shouted.

"Well, you haven't set the greatest example of celibacy" Hannah commented.

"Are you kidding me?" Emily shouted.

"What? You do it, why can't I? And besides, we were just making out. That's no where near what you and Matt do. Besides, if I ever did that, it would be because you make it seem like it's okay. I don't see why you're freaking out here" Hannah explained.

"Hannah, go to your room now!" Emily shouted pointing to Hannah's room.

"What? Why? I didn't do anything wrong!" Hannah yelled.

"Yeah, you did. I can't deal with this now, just go!"

"Fine! Jeez, and I thought you were cool" Hannah said as she stomped off to her room.

_I'll add Matt's little talk with Skullz in the next chapter._


	6. Direct Hit

_Sorry it took so long to update, but here you go!!! There will be more later. Please review!!!!!_

Matt was slowly driving Skullz back to his place. Even though it was practically within walking distance, Matt wanted to find out more about this Skullz guy. Up until tonight, he thought that Hannah had good judgement, but evidently not. Then again, he should be more open-minded, and realize that no matter how different people are, even as different as Skullz, they are still people. But Matt sees a freak, and treats them like one, an old habit from his days as a bully that he needs to shake.

He had to be very careful in what he was going to say because this was Hannah's boyfriend, or one night stand, or something. Matt made a note to self to clarify the stance of Hannah and Skullz relationship. Because if they were actually dating, one wrong word and he could ruin this for Hannah, even if her choice in a boyfriend is extremely questionable. So, Matt slowly eased into conversation with his teenage counterpart.

"So, Skullz." he began. Skullz jerked his head over in the direction of Matt, startled by the sudden noise in the previously silent car. He didn't respond, he just looked like he was waiting for Matt to say something else.

"That's an interesting name. What made you chose that?" Matt asked, still stumbling over what to say, he isn't talking to a heavily armed psychopath, he's talking to Hannah's, whatever the hell this guy is. All the rules are different.

"Who says I picked it? My parents gave me the name." Skullz responded.

"Seriously? Were, they high when they chose this name?" Matt commented. No parent would name their child that.

"Actually, yeah. My old man is in a rock band, and you know how rock bands are with the drugs, and my mom was a little too delirious from the pain meds for labor to care. So, because of my addict dad, I'm stuck with Skullz."

"Seriously?" Matt asked, almost feeling an ounce of sympathy for the kid.

"Nah. I'm just yanking your chain. My dad's a lawyer. He has this idiotic idea that I want to follow in his footsteps at Harvard Law. So, I died my hair green, got the tattoos, and started failing all my classes and get sent to detention to piss him off. And let me tell ya, it's working like a charm. He's actually a little afraid of me, so I can do whatever I want now."

"Like, doing whatever you want with Hannah?" Matt asked, liking this kid less and less.

"That could fall under whatever I want. I mean, Hannah's hot, and she was a pretty cool to hang out with in detention." Skullz began to answer.

"Detention? Wait, Hannah got detention?" Matt asked. He didn't know that. Did Emily know? Emily is a stickler for the rules, so Hannah is likely to get chastised by Emily if she finds out this new revelation.

"Yeah, that's how we met. We both spent two weeks there together"

"Hannah met her boyfriend in detention. Wow, you sound like a keeper." Matt said sarcastically.

"I'm not her boyfriend, we were just fooling around, you know, kids stuff. And she's acting like a little school girl in love, it's actually a turn off, I mean, I need a good time, not a relationship. You're a guy, you know what I mean."

"Trust me kid, pulling me any farther into this is going to be a choice that you'll regret."

"Oh, what? Are you gonna shoot me? Maybe I was caught off guard back at Hannah's pace, but now I know that you can't do anything, legally. Oh, and by the way, if I chose I want Hannah, then I'll have her." Skullz explained, almost challenging Matt to lose it. This kid knew how to push buttons, and he was definitely getting to Matt.

After that answer, Matt quickly pulled the car to the side of the road.

"Okay, listen here, I'm not gonna play games with you kid. Hannah cares about you, so here's how it goes, if you make her cry, I'll make you cry. But you're not gonna take that chance, because you're gonna stay as far away from Hannah as you possibly can. After this little talk, there is no chance in hell I'm letting you within fifty feet of her again. So, stay away. Get it? Got it? Good. Why don't you just get out here and walk the rest of the way home." Matt said severely, while staring straight into Skullz' eyes.

If looks could kill, Skullz would have died a extremely excruciatingly painful death from the look Matt was giving him. Sure, Matt really couldn't do anything to hurt Skullz, and Skullz knew that, but not anymore. Because the look Matt gave Skullz in the rant, made the kid fear for his life. He's really not as tough as he seems.

Skullz didn't say anything back to Matt, he just fumbled with the handle you had to pull to open the door. His nerves made the simple task of exiting the car hard, but the second he got out and shut the door Matt sped off, leaving Skullz in the dust. Actually since they lived in the city, Matt really drove over a puddle of dirty water, and as the water flew through the air it managed to drench Skullz. Matt saw this through the rearview mirror, and smiled.

"Direct hit." he whispered to himself, as he saw the wet Skullz. He won this round of the Matt and Skullz war, not in the nice guy way he originally intended to win it by, but he won. Now the question is, who will win the Emily and Hannah war?


	7. Destined To Be Like Her?

Matt walked fidgeted with the key, but finally managed to get himself back into Emily's apartment. He found Emily sitting on the couch, just staring out into space.

"Hey," he said after he made his way over to the couch and was now sitting next to Emily. Sitting close enough to see tears stains running down her cheeks.

"You alright?" he asked, already knowing that she wasn't.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Everything's fine." Emily lied.

"Okay," Matt said, knowing that none of what Emily just said was true. Emily Lehman does not cry when everything's fine.

"Where's Hannah?" he asked, wondering how their little conversation went when he left.

"In her room. How did everything go over with Skullz or Bones or Scabs or whatever the hell that guy's name is?" Emily said, clearly distressed over something.

"I handled it." Matt answered.

"I hope in your handling it the kid got home still breathing." Emily said.

"Eh, if not Hannah could always give him a few back compressions to bring him back to life." Matt said.

"Why? Why did she chose Skullz?" Emily suddenly asked.

"I don't know, guys like that have some affect over girls. Makes them do stupid things. At least we got him away from her." said Matt.

"I mean, Hannah's pretty. And smart, too. Why would she chose to bring _that_ guy over to an empty apartment? I don't get it. God! Did my mother let her do everything she wanted?" Emily said with an undeniable amount of tension in her voice.

"Em," Matt began.

"I mean, she's a total moron. How could she think that there wasn't a rule about bringing strange men, who are strang_ers,_ over to an empty apartment?" Emily asked. But it wasn't really a question because now she was basically talking to herself.

"I know, because I never told her not to. Because for some reason, this is all my fault for being a bad example or not being around while she grew up or some reason that she twisted to suit her needs." Emily ranted.

Matt just watched her blame herself for a while. He knew that if he tried to interrupt she would just keep on going, it's at least better for her to get it out now, and he'll talk her out of whatever things Hannah said later.

"Em," he said, placing his hand on her knee, squeezing it a bit. "None of this is your fault."

"No, Matt. It kind of is." she replied, her eyes looking suddenly glassy.

"No, it's not." Matt said firmly, looking his girlfriend straight in the eye. "It's not your fault. It's your mom's."

"Yeah, and maybe I'm destined to be just like her. I'll just screw up Hannah as much as she screwed up me. That's all I grew up knowing, so I'll just make the same mistakes." Emily said, more tears streaming down her face.

"You won't." Matt said.

"And why not?"

"Because, I'm here now. I'll make sure it all works out. You just gotta try and trust me." Matt said.

"And what happens when you let me down like everyone else and leave like everyone else?" Emily asked. Normally she wouldn't have revealed this much, but once she starts crying all of her fears and emotions begin to pour out, just as fast and uncontrollably as the tears.

"Not gonna happen. Em, I'm in this for keeps. Okay? I'm not leaving you. I'm gonna be here. No matter what. Ya hear me? No matter what. Damn Lehman, you've gotten under my skin, I could never leave you now." he said stroking her hair.

"I just don't know how to believe that." she wept.

"I'll show you how." he said, and then he kissed her.

Their usual kisses were filled with passion and hunger that always lead too far more then savoring the kiss. But this was just a light and gentle kiss, but one that was overwhelmingly filled with love and compassion. All the proof that Emily needed was in that one kiss. Matt can talk his way into anything, but no words he could use could show how much he cared in that one kiss. For a kiss of this incredibly short length, it was filled with an unbelievable amount of meaning and truth. Matt Flannery was sticking around. That much Emily knew. Everything else, Hannah included, she'd just have to wait and see. After the kiss was over Emily just curled up into Matt's arms while he grabbed a blanket.

She was calm and convinced that everything would be okay. But poor naive Emily might have been fooled again. Not by Matt, no, Matt wouldn't do that to her. But by hope. She thought everything would be fine, but by the next morning things were gonna change. Matt will stick around, but Hannah staying by Emily's side is debatable.

* * *

The next morning began as unremarkable. Matt and Emily woke up early because of their uncomfortable sleeping position. That's what they get for sleeping on the couch. They made coffee, and did the normal morning routine. Hannah came out of her room and didn't seem as cheerful as usual, or angry, or the slightest bit annoyed. Just stoic. She didn't acknowledge that she and Emily had an argument last night (the first they have had since Hannah was little), it just seemed like a quiet morning, but there was an unheeded coldness in Hannah's demeanor. There was also a coldness in the air, one Emily would come to know as the sure signs of foreboding going unnoticed.

During breakfast (a very silent one) there was a knock at the door, which Emily answered. The person standing in her doorway was the person who will cause the problems to come. The person there was one of the last people Emily ever wanted to see.

"Millie, Dear, won't you let me come in?" asked a woman who looked remarkably like Emily and Hannah.


End file.
